GBA Services, Inc. is pleased to endorse
Bank Assetpoint, a product to help banks market their commercial
real estate and other assets to potential buyers. Bank Assetpoint®
allows members to search for and post assets for sale, either
directly or through your real estate broker or loan sale advisor,
and to connect with specialty service providers. Get

access to a large
number of eligible buyers, facilitating faster disposition, as well
as the potential to capture the value of your assets, as well as
easily post and monitor a wide range of assets - including performing and
nonperforming loans, loan participations, loan pools, and commercial
OREO – in a single, secure place. There are many other benefits,
too. You can check out
Bank Assetpoint at
www.bankassetpoint.com. It's quick and easy to get started. With
questions, contact Promontory's
Danny Capitel, 770.630.6796.

A recent Georgia
Court of Appeals decision raises interesting issues about how the
FDIC’s rights as receiver to enforce contracts affect loan
participations, writes Jerry Blanchard of the Bryan Cave law
firm in a post on the company's blog. Blanchard describes how the
decision in the case in favor of a Georgia bank will likely give
participants more leverage in how loans are administered.
Read the details here.

Lunch
with the Acting FDIC Atlanta Regional Director – May 12

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet and
have
lunch with recently named acting
FDIC Atlanta Regional Director, Michael J. Dean. The lunch is
scheduled for Monday, May 12, at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel,
Atlanta. He will also share his views of the state and how he will
approach his new role. Dean has served in a variety of areas within
the FDIC for 27 years. Before his appointment, he served as
Atlanta’s Deputy Regional Director for Compliance and Risk
Management since 2002. Click
here to register. With questions
about the meeting, please contact GBA’s Susie McGehee at
404.420.2010 or
smcgehee@gabankers.com

Two
Georgia Banks among top Performing Community Banks

We’re always
glad to see Georgia banks included in rankings of industry leaders,
so we congratulate two GBA member banks this week for being named
among SNL Financial’s top 100 best-performing community banks in
their respective asset-size ranges. Metro City Bank,
Doraville, was ranked the No. 16 best-performing bank with assets
between $500 million and $5 billion. NOA Bank, Duluth, was
ranked No. 86 among banks with less than $500 million in assets.
Get more details here...

From
Durbin to Bitcoin to Breaches: Getting a Grip on the Payment System

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week ran a major series of
stories about the future of money and payments that's worth checking
out.
(Link here. May require subscription.) It's a timely series, and
we're going to take a hard look at the issue, too, during the GBA
Annual Meeting this year. The evolving world of payments and how
recent events-like the Durbin Interchange Amendment, the Target
Breach and the like-have influenced the banking industry greatly.
Ken Clayton, Executive Vice President of Legislative Affairs and
Chief Counsel, American Bankers Association, Washington, D.C., will
give you a big picture of these issues and more, and how the future
may look. Risks and opportunities abound, particularly when
policymakers get involved. Come hear his thoughts on how this
broader dynamic may affect your bank, and what you can do about it.
GBA’s 2014
Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 15-18 at
The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV. Click
hereto register.

GBA
Bank Security Conference Dives Deep into Headline Issues

Preventing
elder abuse, cyber-fraud trends, the security officer’s role in
business continuity planning and fraud case management were among
the major topics GBA security professionals discussed at the 2014
GBA Bank Security Conference in Savannah last week. For example, the
attendees discussed that in addition to headline threats such as
data breaches, consumers and bank security professionals should be
aware that users of online dating sites have become prime targets
for scammers.
Read more details from the conference here, and see who was key to
making the conference such a success...

Flood Insurance Update

Rates
to be Restored
to Pre-Biggert-Waters Levels May 1

The Federal Emergency Management Agency
this week issued guidance to the Write Your Own insurance agents on
implementation of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act.
Effective May 1, Pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map (Pre-FIRM) properties
that were subjected to a full risk rate because they were purchased
after enactment of Biggert-Waters or because of a lapse in coverage
will see their subsidized rates restored, unless the full-risk rate
is more favorable, when they purchase or renew their policy. The
guidance outlines how to adjust rates and the requirements for new
polices.
Here's a link to the guidance.

Remittance
Disclosure Deadline May Be Extended

The CFPB this week proposed extending until June 21,
2020, the temporary exception to its remittance rule that allows sending institutions
to estimate fees charged by the receiving institution. The original
provision expires in July 2015.
Read more here...

Modest
Expansion Noted for Fed’s Atlanta District

Business
contacts in the Federal Reserve’s Sixth District were optimistic and
expect near-term economic activity to grow at a moderate pace, the
Fed said this week in its Beige Book summary of economic conditions.
Retailers and hospitality contacts saw improvements coming off of
the severe winter weather. Commercial real estate activity was
characterized as growing at a moderate pace. Loan demand was up,
according to community bank contacts, with
aggressive loan terms
and pricing driven by competition from larger banks and other
community banks. Commercial loan growth stemmed mostly from luring
business away from other bank competitors. Increased compliance
costs were also reported. Read the full
report here.

Seminar Spotlight

Legal Issues of New Account Documentation and Compliance Seminar
April 24

You've still
got time to register for our one-day
seminar that will teach new account personnel proper account-opening
procedures and compliance requirements. Topics to be covered include
signature-card contracts, a CIP compliance overview, TIN compliance,
individual accounts and much more. The seminar is designed for new
accounts representatives, back-up new account personnel,
certificate-of-deposit staff, and bookkeeping and accountholder
service personnel.
Click here to register.

Volunteers Still Needed to Judge Students
in Finance Events

Next month
DECA will host the International Career Development Conference in
Atlanta, bringing approximately 16,000 high school students to the
state. Hundreds of these students will be competing in Business
Finance and Principles of Finance on Monday, May 5. The students
need professionals from the industry to judge them in this event.
The events run from 12:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. at the Georgia World
Congress Center. Visit
www.deca.org/events/judge
and complete the appropriate registration form.

New HomeSafe
Features Can Help Homeowners

If
you have a customer who has lost a job and is struggling to pay his
or her mortgage payments, help is available at no cost to the
homeowner. To help homeowners avoid foreclosure, HomeSafe Georgia,
housed in the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, provides
temporary help to homeowners who have become unemployed or
underemployed through no fault of their own within the last 36
months. As part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Fund,
Georgia received $339 million to help homeowners avoid foreclosure
while they seek a new job.
Find out what the new features of HomeSafe Georgia are here...

Marketing Peer Group May 20
Features High-Powered Digital
Panel

We have confirmed an outstanding panel for the first
session of the GBA Marketing Peer Group meeting scheduled for May 20
at First Landmark Bank in Marietta. The panel will go in depth in
explaining the latest
trends, tips and strategies for mobile, social and other new media
channels.
Panelists are...

We want to share all that GBA
members do to support their communities.
Submit your community information to
Bo Brannenand
David Oliver.

Sponsorship Available:GBA Associate Members may
sponsor GBA's Community
Connections feature to support our member banks' activities in
Georgia communities. ContactDavid Oliverat
404.420.2036 for information.

Please remember to include the Georgia
Bankers Association on the list of recipients for announcements
about promotions, new employees and special recognition your bank
has received. We want to share your news with your colleagues across
the state. Please forward your announcements and photos to GBA'sDavid Oliver and Bogan Brannen.